The Turbonique Black Widow VW Bug – Why was this car ill-fated? IT WAS A FREAKING TURBONIQUE DRAG AXLE POWERED VW BUG! Seriously, we’re not sure if we should admire the courage of driver Roy Drew of if we should pity for having suffered some sort of mental illness that made him think that this whole thing was a fantastic idea.

Drew raced the car many times and it had garnered enough interest and press that he was set to take the thing on a national tour to compete against all comers. It had famously out run Ivo’s four engine car and most other stuff that ran up against it but it couldn’t outrun physics. At over 180mph the little VW took flight and wrecked in spectacular fashion. The most shocking thing about this whole situation is that Drew actually lived though it. Amazingly, the car had not yet completed its run when it was making that huge speed meaning that there was more left in it. Amazing stuff.

There is ill-fated and ill-conceived. The Turbonique Black Widow was both.

The Vulcan Shuttle Rocket VW – Rocket cars are getting ready to make a comeback at US drag strips although none of them will be like the Vulcan Shuttle which is a good thing for everyone involved. The big difference between the Vulcan Shuttle and other rocket cars is that it used a solid propellant rocket. Once it was lit, there was no shutting it off. Peroxide can be stopped, this stuff couldn’t. Raul Cabrera and Ron Poole built the creation and both of them drove it at times. It was just as it appears, a VW that had a roll cage added and a faux missile stuck through the middle.

The machine made many successful drag strip appearances turning in the 180-190mph range and leaving people baffled at every turn. The end came in 1981 while the car was appearing at a Florida airport. Something went askew with the rocket forcing the nose of the car down. The front end collapsed and the car went into a series of end of end flips that ejected Poole and killed him instantly.

The Turbonique Black Widow VW Bug – Why was this car ill-fated? IT WAS A FREAKING TURBONIQUE DRAG AXLE POWERED VW BUG! Seriously, we’re not sure if we should admire the courage of driver Roy Drew of if we should pity for having suffered some sort of mental illness that made him think that this whole thing was a fantastic idea.

Drew raced the car many times and it had garnered enough interest and press that he was set to take the thing on a national tour to compete against all comers. It had famously out run Ivo’s four engine car and most other stuff that ran up against it but it couldn’t outrun physics. At over 180mph the little VW took flight and wrecked in spectacular fashion. The most shocking thing about this whole situation is that Drew actually lived though it. Amazingly, the car had not yet completed its run when it was making that huge speed meaning that there was more left in it. Amazing stuff.

There is ill-fated and ill-conceived. The Turbonique Black Widow was both.

Consolidated B-24 Liberator
One of one still flying in the world.
Flew overhead low enough that I could see the bomb bay doors yesterday.
Thin little bullshit wings on this thing but WIDE. 110 ft wingspan.

Powered by four Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp engines putting out 1200 horsepower each.
The Twin Wasp was the most produced piston engine in the history of aviation.
Such a wonderful sound.